Tim Banks is the CEO of APM, a Canada wide construction and property development company, with its head office in Charlottetown, PEI. My family has lived on PEI for over eight generations and I was born at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside, PEI. I am hoping someone will soon develop a blood test to authenticate when you actually become an "Islander" as I am still having problems explaining where I'm from?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I said it before and I'll say it again the PNP investment was great business for PEI and it kept a lot of small business people going and I'm afraid without it next year a lot of small business operators are going to feel the pinch... what annoyed me the most about all the yapping and innuendo by the Opposition and the media is they didn't wait for the Auditor’s report... they just continued to shoot their face off without the facts... and as I also said before I'm sure there are going to be a few bad apples that will come out of the Auditor's report but that is to be expected of any program that size... but the record will show this was a great program for PEI and kudos to Minister Brown for aggressively processing as many applications as they could for the economic benefit of all Islanders and the welcoming of new Island resident investors...P.E.I. leads nation in wholesale growthTHE CANADIAN PRESSOTTAWA — Prince Edward Island was the only province in Canada to show an increase in wholesale trade in November, reports Statistics Canada. For the nation, wholesale sales fell 1.6 per cent in November to $44.4 billion as decreases in four of seven sectors contributed to the third decline in four months. Overall, sales were down in nine provinces in November. Only Prince Edward Island, at 5.1 per cent, posted higher sales in November. Nationally, farm products was one of the positive growth sectors in the wholesale trade, advancing 3.5 per cent while sales rose 0.2 per cent in both the food, beverages and tobacco sector and the personal and household goods sector. Statistics Canada reports the volume of sales was also in decline, down three per cent. The agency says the sales decline reflected both lower export demand for Canadian goods, a significant part of which flows through wholesale markets, and weaker sales in Canada. At current prices, the machinery and electronic equipment sector declined 1.6 per cent in November, reflecting a 1.9 per cent sales drop in the machinery and equipment trade group, which accounts for half the sector. Sales in the automotive products sector declined 2.2 per cent in November, motor vehicle sales fell 2.3 per cent from October to $5.1 billion. The largest decline - six per cent - came in the "other products" sector, which fell to its lowest level since March 2008, while sales in the building materials sector decreased 1.3 per cent. Wholesale inventories rose for a ninth straight month, increasing one per cent in November. Overall, 10 of the 15 wholesale trade groups reported higher inventory levels.